Skip to Content
Uncategorized

Gamers Nab Crooks

How’s this for dedication? According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, fans of the upcoming shoot ‘em up game, Half-Life 2, have reportedly helped federal agents nab the crooks who leaked the game’s source code last fall. The leak caused the long-awaited…

How’s this for dedication?

According to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, fans of the upcoming shoot ‘em up game, Half-Life 2, have reportedly helped federal agents nab the crooks who leaked the game’s source code last fall. The leak caused the long-awaited game to miss its scheduled October 2003 release; HL2 is now hoped to be completed this summer.

Half-Life’s fans have always been a committed bunch. The players are among the most passionate creators of user-made modifications, and helped turn one mod – Counter-Strike – into a mainstream hit. Though many sucked down the leaked source code as it made its way across the Internet, most decried the delay the leak caused.

When Gabe Newell, the head of Valve, HL2’s developer, called upon gamers to help find the source of the leak, fans got on the case, emailing tips sleuthed from the online underworld. Newell says he now credits the fans’ work with leading to the arrest of two suspects last week in Seattle.

Keep Reading

Most Popular

Geoffrey Hinton tells us why he’s now scared of the tech he helped build

“I have suddenly switched my views on whether these things are going to be more intelligent than us.”

Meet the people who use Notion to plan their whole lives

The workplace tool’s appeal extends far beyond organizing work projects. Many users find it’s just as useful for managing their free time.

Learning to code isn’t enough

Historically, learn-to-code efforts have provided opportunities for the few, but new efforts are aiming to be inclusive.

Deep learning pioneer Geoffrey Hinton has quit Google

Hinton will be speaking at EmTech Digital on Wednesday.

Stay connected

Illustration by Rose Wong

Get the latest updates from
MIT Technology Review

Discover special offers, top stories, upcoming events, and more.

Thank you for submitting your email!

Explore more newsletters

It looks like something went wrong.

We’re having trouble saving your preferences. Try refreshing this page and updating them one more time. If you continue to get this message, reach out to us at customer-service@technologyreview.com with a list of newsletters you’d like to receive.